Hubbard fired as Newport-Mesa chief

COSTA MESA – Trustees in Newport-Mesa Unified on Tuesday fired Superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard, a day after his conviction for felony misappropriation of funds at his previous district.

Trustees met at Newport-Mesa headquarters Tuesday afternoon for an hour-long closed-door meeting to decide Hubbard's fate as head of the 21,800-student district. After their meeting, trustees emerged to announce Hubbard had been retroactively terminated effective Monday.

Hubbard was not present.

"The board unanimously agreed to terminate Dr. Hubbard's employment with the district ... based on his violation of the penal code," said David Brooks, president of the school board.

A superintendent can be terminated for cause if convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.

Hubbard turns 55 on Thursday and will be eligible to retire after having compiled 28 years of service, according to the California State Teachers Retirement System. The Register calculated his state retirement pay at $119,920 a year, based on a compensation of $305,920 annually and retirement benefit of 1.4 percent at age 55.

Hubbard faces up to five years in prison and loss of his teaching credential after a Los Angeles Superior Court jury convicted him of giving illegal raises worth more than $20,000 to a favored female employee while he served as superintendent at Beverly Hills Unified School District. Included in the evidence were sexually charged emails Hubbard exchanged with the employee.

Hubbard was charged in December 2010, and took a five-month paid leave of absence to prepare for his trial. School board members stood behind him throughout the process.

"We made a commitment that we would wait for the outcome of the criminal case," trustee Dan Black said Tuesday evening. "Now that Hubbard has had his due process, I feel comfortable that we made the right decision here tonight."

About 20 parents and other community members who attended Tuesday's regular school board meeting cheered when the board announced Hubbard's immediate termination.

Peter Boyd, a parent at Newport Heights Elementary, told the board it should have acted sooner, when charges were first brought against Hubbard.

"Fortunately for this district, we are no longer saddled with Jeffrey Hubbard, now a convicted felon," he said.

Kimberly Claytor, president of the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers, said removing Hubbard was the only viable choice for trustees.

"As educators, we are saddened by the impact that this case has had on the reputation of our district and the resources it has drained from our classrooms," she said. "In an effort to put the past behind us, we look forward to finding a new superintendent who respects the processes in place to protect the public trust."

The case against Hubbard centered on three memos directing Beverly Hills staff to put then Beverly Hills human resources official Nora Roque on a salary track that would raise her pay by $20,000 in five years and give then-facilities director Karen Christiansen a $20,000 bonus and raise her car allowance by $350 monthly.

Hubbard was found not guilty of the charge involving Roque, but guilty of two charges involving Christiansen, 53. Hubbard's relationship with Christiansen was called into question after sexually charged emails were found between the two. Marie Kaplan, a parent at Ensign Intermediate in Newport Beach, said the she was disappointed, but also supported the school board decision.

"From what I knew of Hubbard, he seemed like a genuine person who cared about this district," she said. "But with all that has come out about his actions in Beverly Hills, there is no way he can continue representing Newport-Mesa."

In coming week,s the school board will name an interim superintendent to lead the district until a permanent replacement is found. Brooks said the board hopes to name a permanent chief by this summer.